Catalyst of Enigma

"Huh? Where am I?"

The words echoed in the void around me, swallowed by the suffocating darkness. his voice sounded foreign, hollow like it belonged to someone else entirely.

"Am I still asleep?"

The stillness pressed down on him, a dense, unrelenting weight. Aizer's eyes darted around, searching for something—anything—but there was nothing. Not a glimmer, not a shadow. Just blackness stretching endlessly in every direction.

"It's so dark here... I can't see a damn thing."

The sensation was unnerving, like being wrapped in a thick, endless void. his heart began to race, each beat a deafening thud in the oppressive silence.

"This is strange... so strange. I've never experienced anything like this before."

A shiver ran down Aizer's spine, though he wasn't even sure If he had a spine anymore. his body felt weightless, detached, as though he were floating in this abyss with no tether to reality.

"I mean, I should be dead, right? After a fall from that height? So... what is this?"

his voice cracked slightly, the uncertainty clawing its way into every syllable.

"This isn't just strange... it's terrifying."

Aizer rubbed at what he thought was his face, though the sensation was muted. Something was missing.

"I'm not a genius or anything, but even I know that no one survives a fall like that. No one."

A grim laugh bubbled up, bitter and humourless.

"Hmm... did I somehow survive? If that's the case, am I in a hospital now? Maybe I'm in a coma? But that doesn't make sense. I've never heard of someone being awake in their subconscious while in a coma..."

The thought festered, cold and unsettling.

"Hah. If I am in a coma, and I wake up, I hope I have enough strength to pull the plug on myself."

The words spilled out sharper than he'd expected but he didn't take them back.

"I refuse to spend the rest of my life as a vegetable."

The abyss around me seemed to shift subtly, though it was likely his imagination playing tricks.

"Wait... don't coma's last years sometimes? Decades, even? And some people never wake up at all."

The weightless feeling returned, the thought pressing on Aizer like a stone.

"So instead of being able to move my real body, I'm stuck here. In this... body. Whatever it is. It's probably some construct of my subconscious. Great."

"Damn it! What's the difference between this and being a goddamn vegetable?"

A frustrated sigh escaped his mouth, though he couldn't even hear it properly.

"This would be so much easier if I were asleep. Then I could just blink, and the next thing I know, I'd wake up. But this... this is something else."

Aizer exhaled deeply, though it felt more like a hollow echo.

"How am I supposed to wake up now? Do I just stay here? Like this? Until my body decides to wake up? Ugh, if only I had a martial arts novel to read while I'm here. At least then I wouldn't be so bored."

After thinking for a few seconds a spark of determination flared up inside him, desperate and fleeting.

"Hold on a second! What if I just keep blinking? Maybe my body will react. Yeah... maybe that'll work."

His lips curled into a bitter smile.

"Ah, whatever. Even if it doesn't work, it's not like anything's going to change."

…

"Damn it! That didn't work either."

Aizer's frustration boiled over, crackling through him like static.

"I guess I'm stuck here until my body wakes up..."

Suddenly, a sensation hit Aizer, disorienting, vertigo-inducing.

"Huh? Hey! Why does it feel like I'm falling?"

The feeling intensified, a wild, uncontrollable plummet.

"Wait! WAIT!! STOPPPP—"

The void erupted in a scream, his own voice trailing into an infinite echo.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—"

And then—

Thud.

"Ha... ha..."

his chest heaved, his heart pounding like a war drum. he blinked rapidly, light flooding his vision, searing after the endless black.

"Man... who would've thought waking up from a dream could be this exhilarating? Wait, is exhilarating even the right word?"

he laughed shakily, running a trembling hand over his face.

"To be honest, the whole experience would've been better with some wind. A fall like that without the rush of air? Disappointing."

"Huh?"

The realization dawned on him as his surroundings came into focus.

"Where the hell am I?"

The room was grand—no, opulent. Gold-lined decor, a bed far too large for one person with a mountain of pillows, luxurious drapes, and a chandelier that glimmered like captured starlight.

"This... this isn't a hospital room."

Aizer's jaw dropped as he took it all in, the lavishness bordering on absurdity.

"Hold on. Luxurious bed, at least four pillows, gold trim everywhere, a room spacious enough to fit ten people comfortably, clothes that scream 'noble,' and a couch that looks older than my last life."

Aizer exhaled sharply.

"With all this information, there's only one conclusion."

His lips curled into a grin, growing wider until it split into a triumphant laugh.

"I'VE BEEN TRANSMIGRATED!"

"HAHAHAHA! LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!"

The glee bubbling inside him felt almost manic.

"It seems luck is finally on my side. I gambled with fate, and I hit the jackpot."

The disbelief lingered, but the excitement burned brighter.

"I can't believe it... I actually transmigrated. And to think I was bracing myself to die. Fate really is a funny thing."

he swung my legs over the edge of the bed, eager to explore his new life.

Thud.

"Ow! Damn it!"

A sharp pain shot up his legs as they buckled beneath me.

"How long has this body been in bed for? My legs are completely asleep."

A cold dread crept in.

"Wait... don't tell me I transmigrated into a cripple's body? Oh, come on!"

Aizer wiggled my toes cautiously, relief washing over him as the sensation returned.

"Phew. Close call. I don't think I could handle living life as a cripple. Hell, I might've ended things again like last time."

he chuckled darkly, steadying myself as he stood and surveyed the room.

"Yeah... I definitely hit it big with this one."

Not just a new life—but a noble one at that.

"Still, I can't help but wonder... did I use up a lifetime's worth of luck for this?"

The thought passed quickly, replaced by a smug grin.

"Nah. I had two lives, so I must've had two lifetimes of luck to spend."

Aizer ran a hand over a table encrusted with gemstones, marvelling at the craftsmanship.

"Damn, just look at all these diamonds and jewels. I've said it before, but I really hit it big."

Aizer turned to a grand, gold-framed mirror, catching sight of himself for the first time. As he de so his his reflection stared back, unfamiliar yet impossibly striking.

"Is... is that really me?"